Network analysis of offensive dynamics in a Portuguese First Division football team: insights from the 2020-2021 season

Introduction: Network analysis has gained increasing attention, as it provides a framework for identifying both collective and individual behaviours within the football teams.Objective: This study aimed to analyse the offensive actions that resulted inshots using net-work analysis in a Portuguese First Division football team during the 2020-2021 season. Methodology: All 34 matches were coded using Angles® software. Offensive actions were de-fined as sequences starting with a ball recovery and ending with a shot. Adjacency matrices were constructed for each match, and both macro and micro analytical approaches were em-ployed to examine differences between the two halves of the season.Results: Findingsindicated914 intra-team interactions, with player 14 (midfielder) and player 2 (forward) as key contributors, particularly in micro network metrics such as degree prestige (passes received) and degree centrality (passes made). Statistical analysis revealed no signifi-cant differences in network metrics, includingdensity (W = 95, p = 0.0912) and clustering co-efficient (W = 112, p = 0.2689), between the season halves.Discussion: These findings offervaluable insights for practitioners seeking in recognizing play patterns and optimizing team dynamics. Identifying key players allows coaches to design tar-geted training exercises, enhance player roles, and better assess opposition threats and vulner-abilities.Conclusions:Network metrics provides a comprehensive understanding of team dynamics, par-ticularly in identifying key contributors to offensive actions.